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DCSubi t1_j1wfge6 wrote

It’s worse bc during CoVID the zoo got rid of the FONZ department and staff. FONZ oversaw events, education and the volunteer program. They zoo doesn’t know what to do without FONZ and can’t seem to admit it.

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displacedredneck t1_j1wgp7z wrote

This is it right here. Without FONZ, events at the zoo have been complete misses. Looking at you, Brew at the Zoo.

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Brainjacker t1_j1wn1r2 wrote

The 21+ late night Halloween party was always our favorite, it was the first thing we mourned when the FONZ news came out and of course there hasn’t been an attempt to revive it.

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GreatStateOfSadness t1_j1xpubd wrote

My experiences at Brewlights at the ZooLights in previous years remain some of the best events I've been to in my adult life. It was awful to get the email about FONZ leaving, and even worse to see Brew at the Zoo fall apart and BrewLights not even happen.

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Quelcris_Falconer13 t1_j1y2906 wrote

This sounds so much fun, I moved to DC during covid and this was one of things I wanted to, I wasn’t able to go and I was sad but reading this post made me feel better about missing the zoo lights

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RallyPigeon t1_j1x7i57 wrote

Yes! It was a great time and reasonably priced too

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rsplatpc t1_j1x2z0g wrote

> Without FONZ, events at the zoo have been complete misses.

just fyi the Zoo parted ways with FONZ because they could not afford to pay FONZ anymore after covid / not because they wanted to or thought they could do a better job or anything like that / FONZ people needed a salary and the zoo literally could not afford it / or come close to being able to afford it because their budget got decimated by covid and the lack of people coming to the zoo and spending money / the zoo is doing what it can with it's current budget and staff

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GettysBede t1_j1x784q wrote

Is your period key broken? Why are you separating sentences with slashes?

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[deleted] t1_j1x7xas wrote

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Blametheorangejuice t1_j1x8jvc wrote

TIL mobile phones don't have periods

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[deleted] t1_j1x932s wrote

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Blametheorangejuice t1_j1x9867 wrote

I understood what you were trying to say?

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[deleted] t1_j1x9da7 wrote

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Blametheorangejuice t1_j1x9ivw wrote

...because I and others would have had a better chance of understanding what you said if you moved your thumb a millimeter to the right?

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[deleted] t1_j1x9sk6 wrote

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Blametheorangejuice t1_j1x9y3p wrote

I REALLY could not tell what you were trying to say and I didn't feel like deciphering it. Lazy writing = lazy reading.

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[deleted] t1_j1xa1xy wrote

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[deleted] t1_j1xafor wrote

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[deleted] t1_j1xamal wrote

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Quelcris_Falconer13 t1_j1y2fh3 wrote

Don’t feel the trolls dudes people like this are the kids in elementary who remind the teacher they forgot to collect homework and always said “well ackshually” before going off on a completely pointless tangent.

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catastrophized t1_j1wyp01 wrote

Big agree; not sure I’d go back for another zoo event after that. Would rather just go visit the zoo on a normal day.

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DCSubi t1_j1x21cn wrote

FONZ had a small but mighty events team. Event planning is one of those thankless jobs that when you do it well, it seems easy and effortless. Everyone thinks they can be an event planner. And then, they eliminate the people who did it for 15-20-25-30 years and realize it’s not so easy. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes the zoo to fix their ways.

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catastrophized t1_j1x5z4i wrote

I was really sad when the email came out that they were breaking up with FONZ :(

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DCSubi t1_j1xstfh wrote

It's not that they "broke up" with FONZ. They dissolved FONZ. 100s of people lost their jobs.

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displacedredneck t1_j1x03m9 wrote

September's Brew at the Zoo crushed any chance of me paying for another event there. Visit the zoo? Hell yeah.

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annelmao t1_j1x8to9 wrote

What happened at this event?

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displacedredneck t1_j1xaua5 wrote

They shoved all of the breweries, and thus all of the visitors, into this little clearing.

This was chosen instead of spreading the breweries along the paths/trails as they had done with Brew Lights in the past. It caused a major choke point, with a lot of crowding. Lines got pretty crappy with the crowding. The ground was already wet from an earlier rain, so when drinks started getting spilled and ice started melting, it became a soggy mess.

And this is at the bottom of the hill, which sucks for anyone that has difficulty with that walk. There was no signage or messages that informed guests of the location. Just random workers yelling "Keep walking! Keep moving! You're not there yet!"

That crappy beer fest at Nats Park is a comparable event.

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annelmao t1_j1xh9xf wrote

I am such a hater I’ll admit, but I didn’t buy tickets to Brew or attempt ZooLights because I knew it would be a catastrophe! Sad to hear the Nats Park one sucks too. What are the good crowd-controlled events in DC, man? Clockout does such a good job finding the best out there, but I’d love a good beer festival or light park without insane crowds! I guess we’re lucky to have the Mall

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Chunkerschunk t1_j1xkf67 wrote

This is right. The zoo thought they could do things on their own. Not great.

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Direct_Crab6651 t1_j1zcwcv wrote

This is so correct and frankly does not go far enough. Everyday at the zoo is a shell of its former self without Fonz. So many stands and booths are never open without Fonz. There are so few volunteers at the animal exhibits to share knowledge. The worker quality of effort has fallen off a cliff.

Honestly it seems like the zoo admin thought they did not have to share revenue anymore with Fonz and could do what they did so easily without them. At first I thought, well give it time and it will get better, but now years in it is still a mess and I debate even keeping zoo membership. Don’t get me wrong, the zoo keepers, vets, and animal care is still clearly first class, but everything not animals has been a disaster since Fonz left.

If the zoo was smart in this post lockdown world they should reach out and try to bring back Fonz and as many people who were involved as possible. Come to a new agreement and make it work because it really is a shame how all the extras around the zoo that made it the best (imo) has totally collapsed and for locals who would go a dozen or so times a year it really is a shell of its former self

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ActuaryPersonal2378 t1_j20inxy wrote

The zoo didn’t have exhibit interpreters due to the pandemic but they recreated the program and it’s set to start back up soon

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Direct_Crab6651 t1_j21efzo wrote

Thanks ….. loved hearing the deeper knowledge these people brought to the table. Few things better then going to the zoo off peak time and getting to let these knowledgeable people tell you all sorts of stuff they want to share.

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ActuaryPersonal2378 t1_j21f8xv wrote

A lot of exhibits have brought back their demos/keeper talks now too! Those daily schedules are usually on the website

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ActuaryPersonal2378 t1_j1xn1jz wrote

Part of this is because events are hosted by the zoo and not FONZ, the zoo has to go with companies approved by the federal government to contract with and many of those companies from previous years did not have relationships established with the federal government

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DCSubi t1_j1xsl8j wrote

There is no more FONZ. Previously, FONZ acted as a fundraising arm for the national zoo. The events FONZ previously executed raised funds for the zoo.

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ActuaryPersonal2378 t1_j1y6jrl wrote

I know that. What I’m saying is that because FONZ dissolved, that messed with who the zoo was allowed to contract with. They have to go through a whole different, more complex process through the federal government that FONZ didn’t have to do with outside event companies (like light companies). That greatly impacted events like Zoolights. So if FONZ contracted with Joe Schmoe for light decorations for zoo lights in 2019, but the federal government didn’t have a working relationship with Joe Schmoe in 2022, they couldn’t be used for the 2022 zoo lights. That greatly impacted it this year since the zoo couldn’t go with most of the purveyors from previous years (on top of a slashed budget).

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SteamPunkTomCat6913 t1_j1zzvnf wrote

And just to add on to this all, FONZ dissolved for its own reasons not because of any malfeasance on the Zoo's part. And as others have stated that left the Zoo with very little to no education or events staff. The Zoo is hiring to make these departments more robust. Combine that with the aforementioned issues with hiring contractors and COVID, events aren't going to be what they were like in years past right now. And they'll probably be different in the future too as the Zoo assesses the effect of these late-night events on the animals themselves. Remember that the Zoo exists for the welfare of the animals and their wild cousins not for our amusement--it's not a circus.

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